Study Finds Brain Damage Leads To Greater Spirituality

[rob86 2]

This is some interesting news I saw on Yahoo.

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I think the article tries to be a bit dramatic in suggesting that brain damage is the cause for religious belief, but I could understand that the brain in general has a lot to do with how strong of a believer someone is. What does everyone think of this? As a non-believer, even when giving religion a chance, I have a hard time understanding why religious people believe the things the do, so maybe the key is in the brain.

[Baniboy 3]

Maybe it's about that people get injured (brain damage) and then find spirituality or hope to help them relieve the trauma. Same works with near to dying-situations? So this is the problem with this study, they interviewed patients who had already found god or whatever spiritual "thing". Surveys are not a part of a scientific study when we're talking about biology, there are too many variables and the human mind has a nice feature attached to it, I call it lying.Besides, there are many people(I'd go as far as saying most) that are religious without any significant brain damage. Linking brain damage to religious and spiritual belief directly based on a survey is unscientific. Simple psychology and SURVEYS can be used to prove that people become more religious when they know they're in trouble. Using that fact, combining ST tests with surveys is meaningless. We don't know if spiritual belief causes ST or ST causes spiritual belief. This isn't a proof for anything. Sounds more like someone just had to make a study for the sake of it.The real difference I see between unbelievers and believers (generally speaking) is curiosity and questioning. I've noticed that many believers don't care if their belief matches up with anything and they don't seek for answers, they need something to believe in. And that need overrides the need for truth. I would in fact be as brave to speculate this need being an factor that has developed through biological evolution.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Baniboy (see edit history)

[anwiii 17]

well, you are lumping religious in to spirituality, although they can have sililarities, i feel those two words have different meaning so if brain damage leads to greater spirituality, it wouldn't necessarliy mean that brain damage would lead people to become more religious.anyway, interesting theory. i think it's all b.s. and i don't think i will be reading the b.s. article it's interesting that someone would say that only because with my experience with people, the ones who have disabilities and not normal brain fuctionalities are some of the nicest people you could ever meet(in my opinion). some of these people cannot fuction normally on a daily basis so instead of the real world crap everyone stresses over, maybe that enables them to be more spiritual. hmmm maybe i will read the article.....

[OpaQue 15]

I read ecstasy pills damage your brain. So, we now have a new drug for making people spiritual. Party and Spirituality... hmm... Sounds Rocking to me.

[mahesh2k 0]

Opaque.... Coming to topic, there are some people even claim that afu, ganja and affim leads to greater enlightenment and joys of spirituality. That is why many followers of osho rajnish are taking those on regular basis. What enlightenment they got and what they're doing with it is another topic in itself. But you can see how people get that spirituality at higher cost, check any osho rajnish ashram or visit goa. There is lot of spiritual fun out there.

[deadmad7 4]

This finding weakens the argument of those who say they believe in God. Notice this does not account for the minority of monotheistic beliefs, but rather ALL spiritual beliefs. There is a physical mechanism for spiritual experience in the brain, one which all religions by definition tap into.Saying that the existence of such a mechanism supports the existence of a god or many gods is counter-intuitive. If there is a biological, physical system for inducing spiritual feelings that can be turned on and off, how does it make sense to say it supports the existence of something divine? Isn?t it far more likely that there are survival advantages for a social, foraging species like ourselves to feel connected to the world at large and explain spirituality as a acquired trait? For the majority of human history our survival depended on cooperation between individuals and staying attuned to natural patterns and cycles.I realize an argument based on likelihood will probably be lost on spiritual people, but I have to ask the question. If there is some divine presence in the universe, why would its effects be modulated by a part of our brain? Shouldn?t the influence of an omnipotent being be independent of a half-cup of brain matter? Isn?t it far more plausible to assume that, like everything else in the brain and body, such effects stem from biological action?

[OpaQue 15]

Opaque....
Coming to topic, there are some people even claim that afu, ganja and affim leads to greater enlightenment and joys of spirituality. That is why many followers of osho rajnish are taking those on regular basis. What enlightenment they got and what they're doing with it is another topic in itself. But you can see how people get that spirituality at higher cost, check any osho rajnish ashram or visit goa. There is lot of spiritual fun out there.

if you are a osho fan and don't mind his ways of spiritual fun, give me a buzz when you are in bombay. :angel:

[wonderfullygifted 0]

Meh, it sounds like a load of lies and just to make drama and make you think in other perspectives.I unno about braindamage and spirituality.